Time switch apparatus

ABSTRACT

A time switch apparatus wherein the switch can positively and instantaneously perform changeover action twice in succession at small intervals of time therebetween, exactly at a pre-set time with no relevance to either the vibration applied thereto externally or to the site where this apparatus is placed, by the arrangement comprising a time-setting ring having a lug and being rotatably mounted on a stationary shaft, a charge cam cylinder rotatably as well as thrustwardly slidably mounted on the stationary shaft and having a flange portion slidably contacting the lug and also having a cam portion and a recessed portion which are both formed on the flange portion, and a switchactuating member mounted on the charge cam cylinder for sliding movement permitted only in the direction of thrust and operatively coupled to a clock mechanism and having an end face portion designed so as to slidably receive therebetween the lug in cooperation with the flange portion and also having a recessed portion formed on the end face portion and a switch-actuating portion.

United States Patent [191 Matsuda [111 3,733,911 1 May 22, 1973 TIME SWITCH APPARATUS [22] Filed: Oct. 28, 1971 [2]] Appl. No.: 193,292

[30] Foreign Application Priority Data Nov. 4, 1970 Japan ..45/1094l6 [52] US. Cl. ..74/3.52, 200/38 FB [51] Int. Cl. ..G05g 21/00 [58] Field of Search ..74/3.5, 3.52, 3.54;

200/38 F, 38 FB, 38 D, 38 R A [561 References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 3,151,489 10/1964 Bowen ..74/3.5

Primary Examiner Milton Kaufman Attorney-Cushman, Darby & Cushman [57] ABSTRACT A time switch apparatus wherein the switch can positively and instantaneously perform changeover action twice in succession at small intervals of time therebetween, exactly at a pre-set time with no relevance to either the vibration applied thereto externally or to the site wherethis apparatus is placed, by the arrangement comprising a time-setting ring having a lug and being rotatably mounted on a stationary shaft, a charge cam cylinder rotatably as well as thrustwardly slidably mounted on the stationary shaft and having a flange portion slidably contacting the lug and also having a cam portion and a recessed portion which are both formed on the flange portion, and a switch-actuating member mounted on the charge cam cylinder for sliding movement permitted only in the direction of thrust and operatively coupled to a clock mechanism and having an end face portion designed so as to slidably receive therebetween the lug in cooperation with the flange portion and also having a recessed portion formed on the end face portion and a switch-actuating portion.

4 Claims, 8 Drawing Figures PAIENTED HAYZZ I975 3 733 1 sum 1 0F 2 SHEET 2 BF 2 FIG .30

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BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the invention The present invention is concered with a time switch, and more particularly, it relates to a time switch apparatus arranged so that a switch means can be changed over of its connection unfailingly and instantaneously at certain time intervals in the order of, for example, open-close-open upon the arrival of a pre-set time.

2. Description of the prior art In an alarm clock for example, there isprovided an arrangement which is operative so that an alarming device such as a bell or a buzzer means is actuated either mechanically or electrically at a pre-set time to inform its user of the arrival of the scheduled time. However, conventional such device had the inconveniences and drawbacks such that, once the alarming device is actuated, this state of actuation would continue until the user operates the device to stop this running state, and that accordingly the device not only required a troublesome operation to halt the running condition of the alarming device but also caused a waste of power if this device is that of a clock driven by batteries. In order to eliminate these drawbacks and inconveniences, proposals have been made to provide an electric alarm clock arranged so that its alarm device is kept in its actuated state only for a predetermined length of time upon arrival of a pre-set time by the use of means such as a micro-switch which is controlled of its switching action by a cam or the like. In a device of this prior type, however, the opening and closing actions of the switch were performed with a very'slow motion. As a result, the state of the contact pressure of the contact region to become very small or nil continued for a relatively lengthy period. Therefore, the contact region could easily develop the chattering phenomenon owing to reasons such as vibration applied to the device externally. Hence, there was the disadvantage that the contact members became worn out intensively so that they could not stand the use of a prolonged period and that, accordingly, the switch often failed to behave accurately at the required time. Also, in the conventional devices of this type, the switch-actuating member interlocked with a clock mechanism was, in fact, a great load on the driving source of the clock and frequently imparted an adverse effect upon the time-making actions of the clock mechanism.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION comes quite small or nil continues for only a very short period of time.

Another object of the present invention is to provide a relatively inexpensive time switch apparatus arranged so that the opening and closing actions of the contact of the switch can be performed instantaneously also even in case an ordinary leaf switch or the like is employed.

Still another object of the present invention is to provide a time switch apparatus arranged so that the apparatus can be incorporated with no difficulty in a clock as a detachable unit of the clock mechanism and that it will never give any adverse effect on the time-making actions of the clock mechanism.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIG. 1 is a front view of the essential part of an embodiment of the time switch apparatus of the present invention;

FIG. 2 is a sectional view taken along the line IIII in FIG. 1, in which some parts are shown as a side elevation;

FIGS. 3a, 3b, 3c and 3d are exploded views of some parts in their different state of action, respectively, as seen in the direction of the arrow III in FIG. 2;

FIG. 4 is a perspective view of the lug; and

FIG. 5 is a perspective view of the charge cam cylinder.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT In FIGS. 1 and 2, reference numeral 1 represents a time-setting ring having a gear portion la and also having time-indicating graduations formed on the external circumferential face 1b thereof and further having a cavity 10 formed on the inner side thereof and being rotatably mounted on a base plate 3 by a shaft 2. Numeral 4 represents a manually operable member mounted rotatably on the base plate 3 and having a gear portion 4a meshing with the gear portion 1a and being assigned to set the required time-indicating graduation to a stationary pointing member or the like not shown by externally manually turning the timer-setting ring 1 about the shaft 2. Numeral 5 represents a lug having an inclined face 5b and a vertical lateral face 5c and being secured to the timer-setting ring 1 by a screw 5a within the cavity 10. Numeral 6 represents a charge cam cylinder rotatably and thrustwardly slidably mounted on the shaft 2 and being urged to slide towards the right relative to the timer-setting ring 1 in FIG. 2 by a coil spring 7 which is loosely wound around the shaft 2, and having a flange portion 6a and also having a cam portion 6b and a stepped portion 6c which are both formed on a part of the flange portion 6a so as to face each other and which are engageable with the lug 5, and further having a screw 6d secured thereto. Numeral 8 represents a cylindrical switch-actuating member having stepped portions 8a and 8b which are formed on a part of the end face of this member so as to face each other and having a slot 8c capable of slidably receiving the screw 6d and also having a flange portion and being mounted on the charge cam cylinder 6 so as to be able to slide only in the direction of thrust and being urged to slide towards the left relative to the charge cam cylinder 6 in FIG. 2 by a coil spring 9 which, in turn, is loosely wound around the external circumferential face of the charge cam cylinder 6. As will be clearly understood from the foregoing statement, the lug 5 in its state shown in FIG. 2 is located between the flange portion 6a of the charge cam cylinder 6 and the end face of the switch-actuating member 8. At least one pair of pins 8d and 8e extend from the flange portion 8c of the switchactuating member 8. These pins 8d and 8e are detachably received in the coupling holes 10a and 10b which are formed on a rotary member 10 which, in turn, is

partly shown by the broken lines and is interlocked with an hour indicating member of a clock mechanism not shown. Accordingly, both the charge cam cylinder 6 and the switch-actuating member 8 are rotated integrally and at the same pace with the hour" indicating member via the rotary member 10. Numeral 11 represents a switch having its movable contact strip in contact with the flange portion 8c of the switchactuating member 8 so that it is held in the opened state in its position shown in FIG. 2. FIGS. 3a, 3b 3c and 3d are explanatory illustrations showing the mutual positional relations between the charge cam cylinder 6, the switch-actuating member 8 and the lug at the respective stages, i.e., before the arrival of the set time of the timer (illustrated in FIG. 3a), at the arrival of the set time (illustrated in FIG. 3b), and at the completion of the switching actions (illustrated in FIGS. 30 and 3d), respectively.

Description will hereunder be directed to the operation of the apparatus of the present invention. First, the timer-setting ring 1 is rotated to an appropriate extent by means of the manually operable member 4 to set, by utilizing the time-indicating graduations formed on the external circumferential face 1b of the ring 1, a required selected time to the stationary time-pointing member not shown, and thus it is possible to set the time at which the switch is to be actuated. The lug 5 at such a time operates so as to separate the switch-- actuating member 8 away from thecharge cam cylinder 6 sideways as seen in FIG. 2 against the forces of the springs 7 and 9, respectively, rendering these two members 8 and 6 to the state in FIG. 3a. 0n the other hand, the charge cam cylinder 6 and the switchactuating member 8 are rotated clockwise together at their positions in FIG. 1 by the rotary member which constitutes a part of the clock mechanism. Thus, when the pre-set time arrives, the stepped portion 8b is brought into engagement with the lateral face 50 of the lug 5. Accordingly, the switch-actuating member 8 is caused to make a quick leftward sliding movement from its position in FIG. 2 by the action of the spring 9 so that its end face is brought into contact with the flange portion 6a of the charge cam cylinder 6, resulting in the state shown in FIG. 3b. In this state of these members, the switch 11 is closed. Next, at the end of the lapse of a certain length of time, the stepped portion 60 is then brought into engagement with the lateral face 5c of the lug 5. Accordingly, the charge cam cylinder 6 and the switch-actuating member 8 are caused to slide integrally towards the right in their positions shown in FIG. 2 by the action of the spring 7 to be rendered to the state shown in FIG. 30, and the switchactuating member 8 is quickly brought back again to its position shown in FIG. 2. As a result, the switch 11 is opened again. Thereafter, owing to the continued rotation of both the charge cam cylinder 6 and the switchactuating member 8, the cam portion 6b of the charge cam cylinder 6 is brought into engagement with the inclined face 5b of the lug 5. As a result, the charge cam cylinder 6 is forced to slide towards the left in its position shown in FIG. 2 against the force of the spring 7 to thereby be rendered first to the state shown in FIG. 3d and then is restored to the position shown in FIG. 3a. What should be noted here is the fact that the length of time from the time at which the switch 11 is closed till it is opened again, i.e., the period of closure of the switch 11 is determined by the phase difference between the stepped portion of the charge cam cylinder 6 and the stepped portion 8b of the switchactuating member 8. Accordingly, this difference in phase is to be determined at the time of designing the apparatus of the present invention so as to meet the use.

As will be clearly understood from the foregoing statement, these two stepped portions 60 and 8b both have a vertical face. Therefore, each reciprocating movement of the switch-actuating member 8 in the direction of thrust is performed instantaneously and quickly. As a consequence, the opening and closing actions of the switch 11 are also instantaneously and quickly and yet unfailingly accomplished. Thus, there is no time lag between the operating time of both the charge cam cylinder 6 and the switch-actuating member 8 and the time of the opening-closing operation of the switch 11, and in this way there is performed accurate control of time. Therefore, even in case the opening and closing actions of a plurality of switches have to be controlled, it is possible to obtain simultaneous operation of these switches with no variance in time of actuation between these individual switches. Also, the compressing actions exerted by both coil springs 7 and 9 at the time the charge cam cylinder 6 and the switchactuating member 8 are restored to their initial positions shown in FIG. 3a (FIG. 2) from their state shown in FIG. 30 are performed gradually during a relatively long period of time by the joint cooperative actions of both the cam portion 6b having a relatively gently inclined face and'the inclined face 5b of the lug 5. Therefore, there arises no fear that the compression of the springs 7 and 9 would give any adverse effect on the operation of the clock mechanism or the member 10.

The apparatus of the present invention can be incorporated in a clock by the following simple procedure, i.e., first by assembling the parts together and then by securely inserting the coupling pins 8d and 8e of the switch-actuating member 8 in the coupling holes 10a and 10b which are formed on one 10 of the members of the clock mechanism, and thereafter securing the base plate 3 to an appropriate site of the body of the clock. Thus, the assembling of this apparatus in a clock apparatus can be accomplished quite easily and it can be removed as equally easily also at the time of repair.

The apparatus of the present invention not only can be utilized conveniently as an automatic operating means of an alarm clock or a siren device, but also it can be as equally conveniently utilized also in such a case where it is desired to obtain an electric signal of a certain duration at a predetermined time, or in case it is intended to suspend the conduction of electric current continuously for a certain period at a predetermined time by the provision of a switch as shown by broken lines in FIG. 2.

I claim:

1. A time switch apparatus comprising:

a rotatable timer-setting ring having time-indicating graduations formed on the circumferential surface thereof,

a lug secured to said timer-setting ring,

a charge cam cylinder provided concentrically with said timer-setting ring for relative rotation with respect to said timer-setting ring and for axial sliding movement and having a flange portion slidably contacting said lug and further having a stepped portion and a cam portion both of which are 2. A time switch apparatus according to claim 1, in

which said cam portion is formed as an inclined plane, and said lug has, formed thereon, an inclined surface engageable with said cam portion and a vertical lateral surface engageable with said stepped portions.

3. A time switch apparatus according to claim 1, in which said timer-setting ring has a gear portion coupled to an externally operable manipulating member.

4. A time switch apparatus according to claim 1, in which said switch-actuating member has a plurality of coupling pins for detachably coupling said switchactuating memberto a clock mechanism.

* III I 

1. A time switch apparatus comprising: a rotatable timer-setting ring having time-indicating graduations formed on the circumferential surface thereof, a lug secured to said timer-setting ring, a charge cam cylinder provided concentrically with said timersetting ring for relative rotation with respect to said timersetting ring and for axial sliding movement and having a flange portion slidably contacting said lug and further having a stepped portion and a cam portion both of which are formed on said flange portion and are engageable with said lug, a switch-actuating member mounted on said charge cam cylinder for being slidable only axially and having an end face region slidably contacting said lug and also having a stepped portion formed on said end face region and engageable with said lug, a first spring means provided between said timer-setting ring and said charge cam cylinder, and a second spring means provided between said charge cam cylinder and said switch-actuating member.
 2. A time switch apparatus according to claim 1, in which Said cam portion is formed as an inclined plane, and said lug has, formed thereon, an inclined surface engageable with said cam portion and a vertical lateral surface engageable with said stepped portions.
 3. A time switch apparatus according to claim 1, in which said timer-setting ring has a gear portion coupled to an externally operable manipulating member.
 4. A time switch apparatus according to claim 1, in which said switch-actuating member has a plurality of coupling pins for detachably coupling said switch-actuating member to a clock mechanism. 